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DNA leads to suspect in Newtown car theft

NEWTOWN - A 19-year-old man has been arrested after his DNA was linked to a car stolen in Newtown last year.

Samuel Lopez was arrested Wednesday on warrant at Danbury Superior Court and charged with second-degree larceny. Lopez is currently serving a five-year jail term for an unrelated robbery.

Police said Lopez and another, yet to be named, accomplice were tied to the theft of the vehicle from a Newtown residence located on Swamp Rd. in January of 2016. The stolen vehicle was a 2013 Hyundai Elantra.

Shortly after the theft of the stolen car, it was found abandoned, in Waterbury. Detectives then responded to the location of the stolen car and processed the car for physical evidence.

“Through DNA evidence, that was collected from the interior of the stolen vehicle, Samuel Lopez was identified as a suspect,” Newtown police said in a statement.